Germany's Kittel survives chaos to win first stage of Tour de France

Associated Press |
June 29, 2013
| Updated: June 29, 2013 7:37pm

Marcel Kittel of Germany savors the moment as he crosses the finish line to win the race's first stage.

Photo By JOEL SAGET/Staff

A chain reaction of spills marred the finish of Saturday's first stage of the Tour de France, which began in Porto-Vecchio and ended in Bastia on Corsica.

BASTIA, Corsica - Riders at the Tour de France know to expect the unexpected. But nothing could have prepared them for the mayhem that turned Saturday's first stage of the 100th Tour into a demolition derby on two wheels.

Seemingly for the first time at the 110-year-old race, one of the big buses that carries the teams around France when they're not on their bikes got stuck at the finish line, literally wedged under scaffolding, unable to move. The timing couldn't have been worse: The blockage happened as the speeding peloton was racing for home, less than 20 kilometers (12 miles) out.

Fearing the worst, race organizers took the split-second decision to shorten the race. Word went out to riders over their radios and they adapted tactics accordingly, cranking up their speed another notch to be first to the new line, now 3 kilometers (1.8 miles) closer than originally planned.

Confusion before crash

Then, somewhat miraculously, the bus for the Orica Greenedge team wriggled free. So organizers reverted to Plan A. Again over the radios, word went out to by-now confused riders and teams that the race would finish as first intended - on a long straightaway alongside the shimmering turquoise Mediterranean, where an expectant crowd waited to cheer the first stage winner of the 100th Tour.

Then, bam! Two riders collided and one of them went down, setting off a chain of spills that scythed through the pack like a bowling ball.

And this was just Day One. The bad news for riders: They've still got another 20 stages and 3,191 more kilometers (1,982 miles) to survive to the finish in Paris.

"It feels like I have gold on my shoulders," said the German rider for the Argos-Shimano team.

Early obstacle

The 22 teams know from experience that the first days of any Tour are always tough. Adding to the stress this year is the race start in Corsica. The island's winding and often narrow roads that snake along idyllic coastlines and over jagged mountains are superbly telegenic but a worry for race favorites because a fall or big loss of time here could ruin their Tour before it really begins.

Team Sky's Chris Froome, a race favorite, survived Day One more or less unscathed. Two-time former champion Alberto Contador, back at the Tour after a doping ban that also cost him his 2010 victory, crossed the line grimacing in pain in the aftermath of the crash.